Where it all begins
by Wings of Stars
Summary: Harry has a dream in which Hermione is dead. . . Is it just a nightmare or is it intuition? H/Hr **finished**
1. 1

Ahem! Now for the most boring part of the story-the Authors Note.

Authors note: This is my first shot at an HP fic, so be gentle, please?? And be honest. This story does 

contain book 4 *which was wonderful* spoilers, so if ya don't want to know the juicy stuff you haven't read do not, I repeat, DO NOT read this. For all of you who've read it, enjoy the story. Oh, and I do

not own the characters, I just love 'em enough to make 'em do what I want, the story is mine and all 

the rest of that legal mumbo jumbo. That is all, thank you.

  
  
  
  


Harry stepped joyfully onto the Hogwarts Express. A smile stretched across his face, and his wildly green eyes had more sparkle in them than usual. 

"Hey, Harry!," Hermione waved, racing toward him with her trunk with much difficulty. Harry walked toward his good friend and politely took her trunk and loaded it onto the train.

"How was your summer?" he asked.

"Good, but nothing special," Hermione said. "Hey, where's Ron?"

Ron, who was dressed in new clothes, boarded the train that very instant.

"Hey, Ron," said Hermione. He smiled and said hello back. Ron sat down, and the three of them stared at each other for a while until the sound of a familiar voice came from the next compartment.

"Hey, Potter!" It was Draco Malfoy, but not his usual sneer. He'd become a little nicer ever since both of his parents were thrown into Azkaban for being caught in the service of Voldemort last year.

"Hey," Harry called back, and that was it. He turned his head back to his friends, and they talked a long time. Surprisingly enough, the train raid, though long, was rather uneventful. 

Upon reaching the castle, Harry lifted his head to look over the castle. "Well guys, this is our last year here, lets do it right," he said. Ron and Hermione smiled in agreement.

They entered the castle and were seated for the feast. As soon as the old, patchy sorting hat was done torturing the first-years, they started the feast. Dishes upon dishes of food magically appeared on the platters on the tables. 

After eating for a very long time, and getting extremely full, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked up the long staircase. 

"Dragon liver," Ron said tiredly to the Fat Lady, who immediately swung forward to reveal a circular hole in the wall. They climbed through to the Gryffindor Common Room and said good night. Harry and Ron headed off toward the boys' dorms, while Hermione tiredly walked to the girls' dorms.

Hermione yawned as she changed into her pajamas. She pulled her bouncy brown hair up into a ponytail and jumped onto her four-poster. The deep crimson hangings swayed in the gentle, warm breeze that was making it's way around the room. It was so peaceful that Hermione fell asleep quickly.

Even as quickly as she fell asleep, the sun was shining in her window again. Her eyes lingered shut for a while and she heard Lavender brown groaning "Night isn't nearly long enough."

Hermione quickly got dressed and walked down to the Great Hall. The enchanted ceiling was pale blue and the puffy clouds were still pink from the sunset. She went and took her seat as Head Girl. She was feeling very tired and was about to fall asleep right there where she was sitting.

"Are you feeling okay, Hermione?" Harry asked. She looked to her left and smiled a little. She loved it when he was worried about her.

"I'll be fine. I'm just a little," she yawned, "tired."

"Okay, just remember to take it easy on the studying. We don't want you collapsing on us during classes," He teased.

"Take it easy on studying??? How can you take it easy ON STUDYING AT A TIME LIKE THIS??? N.E.W.T.s are just at the end of this year!" Hermione half-shouted.

"Okay, okay. Don't," Harry said apologetically.

The day passed very uneventfully. Neville Longbottom even made his healing potion perfectly, without Hermione telling him what to do. After a normal day of classes, everyone was in the common room again already. Hermione had taken it easy on subjects this year, and was working on Arithmancy charts with Harry and Ron.

"Blimey, do they do this to us on purpose??" Ron asked.

"Do what to us?" Harry asked.

"Give us such blooming hard homework on the first day back to school."

"First day, November day, it's all the same," Hermione said.

"Well, I'm done," Harry said, "See you two in the morning."

"Bright and early," Ron said sarcastically.

Harry went to bed and drifted into a fitful sleep.

* *

_"Escape, Harry. It's not worth the risk,"_ Hermione said, her voice was weak.__

_"Don't die on me, Herm. Please don't die!" _his own voice said, beginning to crack.

_"It's too late, she's already dead, as you will be soon. You can't escape me this time!" _The evil, power-hungry voice if Voldermort rang inside his dream.

He looked up from Hermione's lifeless body. Piles of old, worn books littered the floor.

_"Your turn. Avada Kedavra . . ."_

* *

Harry sat bolt upright in his bed, covered in a cold sweat, his scar burning horribly. 

  
  
  
  



	2. 2

The pain in Harry's scar was more powerful and blinding than he'd ever experienced before. Everything was blurred, even through his glasses. He breathed in hard, then let the air escape his lungs slowly. Harry stood up and got dressed, intent not to let it keep him down. 

He lingered in the common room until the pain dimmed, then rushed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. What would Hermione and Ron think?? What would they say?? Who cared, it was fine now, right??

"Hey, Harry. You feeling okay?? You look a little . . . stressed," Hermione said.

"Your turn to check up on me, huh??" he laughed a little.

"You aren't throwing me off that easily," she said flatly.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you, then," he said, leaning closer to her. "My scar hurt this morning, really bad."

"Hmm, you know my advice already," Hermione said nonchalantly.

"Er, let me guess. Tell Dumbledore, and in the meantime, consult a book?"

"Bingo," she replied, not taking her eyes off her Arithmancy book. That very moment, hundreds of owls flew into the Great Hall. Hedwig flew down to Harry, a letter and a parcel tied to her foot.

  
  


Harry, 

I knew you'd forget this.

Sirius

  
  


Harry opened the parcel. It was his father's invisibility cloak "I forgot this on purpose," he muttered.

"Why?? I thought you loved it," Hermione said curiously.

"I'm going to try to stay out of trouble," Harry confessed. Hermione choked her laughter into a cough.

"Harry! I think I know why your scar hurt this morning," she said, looking startled, as she unrolled her copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

"Why . . . ." he dropped his question as she shoved him the paper. The headline read 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Spotted'. Harry coughed loudly. "This, no. This isn't true. It can't be. Can it?"

Neither Harry or Hermione ate anything for the rest of the meal. Harry just stared at his half-empty plate.

Later that afternoon, Hermione, Harry, and Ron took their usual seats in the front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The bell rang and Professor Lupin, who had returned last year to teach entered the classroom.

"As a lot of you may well already know, Voldemort (there was a slight gasp from the class) has returned and has a body of his own, again. How this happened, I haven't the slightest idea, but we must all be prepared to face the worst."

Week of hard training and work in all of their classes turned into months. Between Quidditch and school, Harry had no time for anything. November came and with it, so did the snow. 

One snowy morning, Harry woke up with his scar hurting terribly again. He laid in bed, staring at the crimson draping's of his four-poster bed for what seemed like hours.

The pain didn't ease.

Harry got dressed and half-ran to the Great Hall, whose ceiling was covered in dark gray clouds. He walked past his usual seat and up to Professor McGonagall.

"I need to see the headmaster, it's urgent," Harry said.

"What's the problem, Potter?" she said stiffly, she didn't like being interrupted during a meal.

"My scar, professor," He said, only half-calm this time.

"Oh, dear," she got up and lead him across the Great Hall. Hermione gave him a puzzled look, but didn't move from her seat. He winced and pointed to his forehead. Harry could tell, it was all she could do to not run after him.

The walked for what seemed like hours, the pain in Harry's forehead seemed to be getting worse with every footstep. Finally Professor McGonagall whispered something to a gargoyle. They walked up a flight of stairs and into Professor Dumbledore's circular office. Harry glanced over at Fawkes, a gorgeous Phoenix bird.

"Professor . . ." Harry couldn't think of how to say it.

"You're scar hurts, doesn't it?" the headmaster said. Harry wasn't bewildered, Dumbledore knew everything.

"Er, yeah," Harry said.

"That can mean only one thing. Voldemort is near," Dumbledore said, a tone of worry in his voice. "You have two options, Harry."

"What are they?" Harry asked, not sure he wanted to hear what was going to be said.

"You can hide, or you can fight."

The two options swam around inside of his brain. At the moment, he wanted to run and hide. He couldn't though. He couldn't just hide like a baby. He'd rather die fighting than die hiding.

"I'll fight," Harry said confidently. "I'll fight." 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. 3

"You'll fight. Well, then. You may as well fight here. I shall leave, he will come then. Go somewhere in the castle. He will find you," Professor Dumbledore said, looking shaken himself, and he left. Professor McGonagall left, also.

Where in the castle did he want to go? He wandered the halls of the castle slowly, as if looking for an answer. He heard a single pair of footsteps rushing toward him. Harry looked up.

"Hermione?? Why haven't you left with the rest of the kids?" He asked protectively.

"I couldn't, I cant let you do this by yourself. You can't possibly hope to fight him alone," she said, a deep look of concern on her face. She'd worn that expression many times for him. He wore it back for her.

"If you insist. Let's just go in here and wait," he said and opened a door to his left. They found themselves in the library. He remembered his dream, _piles of old, worn books littered the floor_. "No, we can't fight in here," he said hurriedly.

"Why not?" Hermione asked. How could he explain for not telling her about the dream??

"Yes, indeed. Why not?" A voice full of deep evil flooded the room. They turned around. The pain in Harry's scar worsened with every second. "_Expelliarmus," _Voldemort said. Their wands flew out of their hands.

"What now?" Harry asked. Voldemort watched with interest.

"What now, mudblood?" the Dark Lord asked. Hermione felt like spitting. Instead, she reached inside one of her pockets and pulled out a pocket knife.

"What good will that do?" Harry asked dryly.

"Well," she looked nervous about this. She cut a slash through the palm of her hand. She then grabbed Harry's hand and did the same.

"Ouch, what's the deal?" He asked.

"Foolish girl," Voldemort muttered.

"Well, your mothers love for you saved you at first. She was already in your blood. Then maybe," she clasped her bleeding hand to his, "My love for you can save you, now." She was hesitant on this last part.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Voldemort said sardonically.

"Maybe it'll work both ways," Harry said quietly. Voldemort coughed in disgust. Hermione's eyes glittered, filling with tears.

"This is getting boring. I thought there would at least be some good entertainment, watching you squirm. _Avada Kedavra."_

Hermione's hand went limp in Harry's. Reluctantly, he gently place her limp body on the floor of the library. The curse had caused most of the bookshelves to fall over.

"Escape, Harry. It's not worth the risk," Hermione said, her voice was weak.__

_"_Don't die on me, Herm. Please don't die!" he said, his voice becoming unstable.

"It's too late, she's already dead, as you will be soon. You can't escape me this time!"The evil, power-hungry voice if Voldemort filled the room.

He looked up from Hermione's lifeless body. Piles of old, worn books littered the floor. There was blood all over.

"Your turn. _Avada Kedavra_."__

There was nothing Harry could do but stand there. He squinted at the flash of green light. When he fully opened his eyes, he found himself . . .

Still in the library.

The pain in his scar was gone. He saw Voldemort fall, his spirit trying to escape his body.

'_Why am I still here?? Why is she dead, and I'm not?? Did I not love her enough?'_ Harry wondered. He leaned over her. The one person he had truly loved. He blamed himself. "Oh, Hermione. Why?? Why aren't you alive?? And now Voldemort's spirit is going to find another body. Why??"

Hermione's eyes flickered open. She took a jar out of her pocket and said, "Put him in this," and she fell unconscious again. Harry did as she said. The jar appeared to be spirit-proof.

"Well, now you won't cause any more trouble in there," he said as he put the jar in his pocket. It was kind of a weird feeling, having the person who'd wanted him dead for so long in a little jar in his pocket. It was one of the better places he could be, though.

Harry turned around and looked at Hermione. Her face was still masked by her hair, she was lying very still, but she was still breathing. He walked past her and pocketed both of their wands before picking her up and carrying her to the hospital wing.

There was no one there, so he laid her down on one of the beds and brushed back her hair. He almost fainted when he saw what was there . . .

A lightning shaped scar in the middle of her forehead.

Why shouldn't she have one?? She had escaped the curse, too. He just hadn't expected it. Harry still stood, gaping at her scar for a while. He was still there when Madame Pomfrey came in. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack at the sight of her scar.

"At least she's still alive. Professor Dumbledore wants to see you. I imagine I should wash your hand up first," she said, washing his left hand. She made a weird expression when she saw the gash, but she didn't speak.

Harry rushed to Professor Dumbledore's office, where the headmaster himself was waiting out the door. He lead Harry into the room.

"Let me see him," Professor Dumbledore said. Harry handed him the spirit-proof jar. "He was a lot of trouble, wasn't he?? He won't be, now that he's stuck in a jar." Harry smiled and nodded. "Hermione is a smart girl. Very clever of her to think of that. I'm glad it worked for her, too. I don't know what we'd all do without her."

"Neville would be a mess," Harry said. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Let me see your left hand," he said. Harry held out his left hand. Professor Dumbledore looked at the gash in his hand. "You're going to keep this scar."

"Just what I need, another famous scar," Harry said sarcastically.

"You'll know why you want to keep it. Hermione will be awake soon. Go see her. Good work, Harry." __

  
  


A/N: Sorry for all you anti-H/Hr people. You shouldn't have expected anything better from me. This chapter was kind of corny, huh?? I'm corny. It's midnight. Sorry it took me so long, I went camping. Anyway, review it please. 


	4. 4

Harry went to the hospital wing, wondering the whole time he walked through the halls of the school, what was there to say?? He walked in, not taking his eyes off of the still unconscious Hermione. Ron was there, too.

"What happened to her hand??" Ron asked, pointing at Hermione's right hand. Harry didn't feel much like talking, so instead he held up his left hand. "So that's how, I read about that once" Ron said, awe in his voice. "I think you'd better tell her about the scar when she wakes up."

"I will," Harry said. He paced around the room a few times. His chance came soon, Hermione opened her eyes and groaned.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

"About an hour," Harry said glancing at his watch.

"So it worked," she said smiling and holding up her right hand. Harry traced his scar with her finger, then turned her hand and traced hers. "I have one??" she asked. "How silly. Of course I do. It must be a mark, a sign that someone survived the avada kedavra."

"Must be," Harry said.

"Did you really mean what you were implying back in the library?" she asked, sitting up.

"You're here, aren't you?" he said. Hermione smiled. They'd forgotten Ron was even there. Hermione and Harry leaned in and kissed.

After a few seconds, Ron said, "It's about time. Took you guys long enough to realize you were in love." Harry coughed and Hermione blushed. "Oh, come off it. Everyone knew this would eventually happen. Though I daresay Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil won't be very happy about it." Harry went red.

Madame Pomfrey came into the room. She looked at Hermione. "You can go," she said, eyeing her scar..

Harry offered his hand to Hermione, who gratefully accepted it. She stood up and they walked to the Gryffindor common room.

"I'm going to go change," Hermione said, and gave Harry a look that said 'you should too, you look worse than me'.

"Yeah, me too," he said, reading the look on her face. She smiled and practically ran up to the girls' dorms. Harry and Ron turned the other way and went up the their own rooms.

"What was it like?" Ron asked as Harry changed.

"What was what like?" Harry asked, pulling a green t-shirt over his head.

"What was it like to fight him?"

"It wasn't really much of a fight," Harry explained, checking his contacts, "It was more like, hope Hermione's plan worked."

"How can you be so brave? I wouldn't have been able to do it," Ron said.

"Oh come off it, you think I wanted to do it. I wanted to run. Much good that would've done. He would've followed me anyway."

"Er, I guess you're right. What do you bet they're having a party down there? With food!" Ron exclaimed. Harry rolled his eyes at his tall friend, but followed him anyway.

There was a loud cheer as Harry walked down the staircase to the circular common room. It wasn't the first time people had thrown a party for him. He smiled, but he really only wanted to talk to Hermione.

Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were scowling into a particular part of the crowd, so he figured he would find Hermione there. He pushed his way through the pack of people, smiling at people as he went.

At long last, he found Hermione talking to some 1st and 2nd years who were gaping at her scar. She was always so sisterly to the younger students. She caught a glimpse of him and smiled, but she finished her conversation with the kids before walking toward him.

"How do you like fame?" he asked with a smile.

"It's exhausting," she said.

"It gets old fast. Trust me."

"I do," she replied quickly and brushed her hair back with her fingers. The stood silently for a moment, letting the party commence around them, but just looking at each other.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked. She threw herself into him, and he put his arms around her. He thought that she was going to cry, but she didn't.

"I'm perfect, now." He smiled down at her. She smiled back.

"So I guess this is the end of one big adventure," He said, a look of relief on his face.

"Oh, so you did want the whole Voldemort thing to end?"

"Ah, you say the name now?? Well, I'm glad it's over. But I'm sorry I had to drag you into it," he said, stroking her hair.

"It's not over. This is just the beginning," she said and kissed him.

  
  


***

A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know it was a little corny. But it made me happy!! Well, what did you thing. Just no flames please. If you have to flame me, just send me a howler instead of posting it. I don't like to be embarrassed in public.

I will write more fics. I promise. But for now, goodbye.

~*~Kazzma~*~


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